Writing for the Web

Avoid lengthy paragraphs and make sure each paragraph deals with only one idea. Instead of long paragraphs, use bulleted lists containing short, high-impact sentences.

Another crucial point is to use “inverted pyramid” principle. This just means that you state your conclusion or most important information up front, and then use rest of body of your text to elaborate and explain. Kind of like a newspaper story.

And because Sam hates to scroll, break your text into logical stand-alone sub-parts of no longer than a single page (or screen) and then link (with a meaningfully-worded link) to next section which starts on a new page.

FEWER WORDS THE BETTER

Make sure your writing is not woolly. You need to write with precision of a surgeon wielding a scalpel. No superfluous words allowed. Write for effect, by all means, but get to point and fast! In other words, be succinct.

CREDIBILITY

Nothing gets that mouse finger itchier than perception that author of work lacks credibility. The top three culprits are hyperbole (avoid marketing hype at all costs and go for restrained objectivity instead), typos and grammatical errors. Sam likes to think you’ve done your homework too so make sure you include links to reputable sources elsewhere on web (but not too many or you risk losing him for good).

TONE

One of major differences in writing for web compared to other forms of writing is inherently impersonal nature of medium. Instead of holding a comfortably reassuring book in his hands, or getting black smudge on his fingers from newspaper, Sam’s only contact with you is your words on a computer screen. You need to overcome impersonal nature of medium if you expect to reach Sam with your words. It is for this reason that “write as you speak” is so much norm on Internet.

Be informal and conversational in your writing (note, this is NOT a license to churn out shoddy, unprofessional work- writing conversationally and informally is every bit as demanding as writing formally, if not more so) and be personal while you’re at it (use “you” and “your” a lot). Most importantly, allow your personality to come through. You need to connect with Sam before he will invest in you so make sure you reach him with your writing.

DESIGN AND LEGIBILITY

Finally, just because it’s less comfortable to read from a computer screen than a book or newspaper doesn’t mean you can’t make it less uncomfortable. Choose font you use with care. Times is a common default font for a lot of web pages but it doesn’t “pixellate” well. Better choices are Arial or Verdana.

Consider your choice of color and contrast carefully too. A dark font on a light background is best for lengthy reading sessions but a light font on a dark background can be effective if used sparingly.

So there you have it. Some relatively quick and easy steps you can take today to make it more likely Sam will get your message. And come back for more.

Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ... practical home business ideas for the work-from-home entrepreneur. http://www.ahbbo.com

How To Write for the Web

Written by Amrit Hallan

Continued from page 1

==> USE LESSER LINKS <==

Some online articles are full of links. Even for a two-line explanation, some writers use a second page and give hyper link in first page. This I find very restrictive, especially if I want to take printout for later reading. Agreed sometimes we can't help it, but keep in mind that where you can avoid giving a link, avoid it.

Another problem with links is, they distract reader. Sometimes reader clicks on links, reads whatever is there, and ends up forgetting original page.

==> HIGHLIGHT MAIN POINTS IN THE BEGINNING <==

Yes, this is a very important point. If you give headlines at beginning of page, and if you make them sound interesting, web readers tend to read with greater earnestness.

Suppose an article or a section tells insomniacs how they can sleep using technique mentioned in article or section. The following highlight would probably trigger an interest:

DO YOU CRAVE TO SLEEP CONTINUOUSLY FOR AT LEAT 10 HOURS WITHOUT TAKING A PILL?!! READ ON TO KNOW HOW YOU CAN.

==> MAKE COMPLETE PAGES <==

As far as possible, all relevant pages should be self-reliant, and should be present in their intrinsic entirety. Web surfers arrive at a particular page randomly, sometimes straightaway from a search engine or a referred link. There is no way to tell where they've been or where they'll go after visiting your page. Even if you try to provide context using links to tie related pages together, you cannot force a Web reader to follow those links. As a result, your approach must be encyclopedic, giving reader a fairly comprehensive presentation of topic on every page. Whenever they arrive, they should know where they are without having to go here and there.

Always include a link that takes to main section of web site with just one click.

==> IMPORTANT THINGS FIRST <==

Whatever your reader should know, according to relevance, should come first on page, and if aesthetically possible, properly highlighted. Think of all those things that visitor would like to see first most, and keep them as easily accessible as possible.

You should present important information in first two or three paragraphs so that by time reader gets distracted and leaves site, you have conveyed your main message.

==> MAKE PRINTABLE PAGES <==

If you have lots of textual content on your web site, keep it in a form so that your readers can take out printouts. If you look at articles on my web site at http://www.bytesworth.com/articles, you'll notice every article has a print version too, so that a reader can take printout and read article later.

This sums up my writing presentation for time being. If you feel I have left out some vital point, you are welcome to let me know.

Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter, writer and a web developer. He also writes pages that are optimized for search engine rankings. Checkout his site, and read more of his writings at http://www.amrithallan.com